VSL Three Small Letters, One Big Concept

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

VSL Three Small Letters, One Big Concept VSL Three Small Letters, One Big Concept The VSL, or Volume of Sacred Law, one of our Three Great Lights, has not always been a part of Freemasonry. The term seems to have been adopted around 1723. There was no edict or instruction from the first Grand Lodge of England, but like much of what we now consider established Freemasonry, it probably came from James Andersons’ “The Constitutions of the Free-Masons” written in that year. Before then, in England and all other Christian countries, it was the Holy Bible. But even that book only takes us back less than two hundred years as the Bible, especially an English language one was not even published until 1526, by William Tyndale, and then it was only the New Testament. The use of this book in a Masonic Lodge would have been hazardous as, and I quote, “One risked death by burning if caught in mere possession of Tyndale's forbidden books.” The earliest manuscripts that relate to Masonry and contain references to ritual simply refer to it as “the book” or “a book”, and that was probably their book of Constitutions and Charges. Why the change to Volume of Sacred Law rather than just saying The Holy Bible, after all, that’s what is on all of our altars today isn’t it? One of the great changes that came into Speculative Masonry with the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge and Anderson’s Constitutions was the removal of religion from the Craft. In part it reads “… though in ancient times Masons were charg'd in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more expedient to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves …” Masons were no longer required to be of the one religion of their country, but rather to share a belief in a Grand Architect of the Universe or a Supreme Entity, by whatever name you wished to use. What is the purpose of this Volume of Sacred Law? Well, looking through our ritual you will find that among other things: page 1 It teaches us the all-important duties we owe to God, to our neighbours and ourselves; It is to be regarded as the unerring standard of Truth and Justice; It is to be used to rule and govern our faith; It is an essential part of the obligation of each degree; Just like in a Court of Civil Law, each obligation includes the swearing of an oath with the right hand resting on the book to make it binding upon the individual. It works because the book has meaning and is scared to the individual taking the oath. But what if the man is not a Christian and the Bible has no meaning for him? That is why it is now called the Volume of Sacred Law, because whichever book is held sacred to that person can be used, it need not be the Bible. In Lodges in predominately Christian countries, it is the Holy Bible, but Lodges in other countries have the sacred book of their predominate religion on the Altar as their Volume of Sacred Law. One of the beauties of Masonry and our tolerance of any religion that acknowledges a Supreme Entity is that we can accept Brothers of different faiths and accommodate them by also having their sacred book open on our Altar. I regularly sit in a Lodge with two VSL’s open on the altar. Let’s have a quick look around the globe at some Lodges in non- Christian countries to see which books they use and some of the differences in how they are used. The following is mainly taken from an article written in 1992 by V.W. Bro. Lin Boon Par, based upon an earlier paper by Wor. Bro. F. W. Stephens, presented in 1970, with some additions and modifications by myself. There are seven Volumes of the Sacred Law in common use in varying numbers through the East. They are in alphabetical order: (1) The Bible (OT) for the Jews. (2) The Bible (OT & NT) for Christians. (3) The Dhammapada for the Mahayana Sect of Buddhism. (4) The Gita for Hindus. (5) The Granth Sahib for Sikhs. (6) The Koran for Muslims. (7) The Zenda Avesta for Parsees and some Iranians. page 2 In 1992, when this article was written, it was thought that Lodge Singapore No. 7178, English Constitution, was the only lodge to have all seven of them. All are open on the pedestal and each is treated with the same respect and they are, in every way, equal to one another. In the Grand Lodge of India, where there are six VSL's, the Square and Compasses are placed on the VSL of the faith of the presiding officer (WM, RGM or GM) at all meetings except at installation meetings when they are placed on the VSL of the faith of the Master Elect. In Israel, where there are three VSL's, the Square and Compasses are placed on the old testament. If Christians are present, the New Testament is added. If Muslims are present the Koran is added and one large set of Square and Compasses covers them all. I will add that in our jurisdiction, the Tanakh is used for Jews. Because of the differences in customs in various religions, modifications are required in the method of obligation. In general, an obligation should be taken and sealed in such a way that the candidate regards it as unconditionally binding. The Christian Bible was originally used for obligating candidates only. It was not until 1760 that it became, on the proposition of William Preston, part of the "furniture" of the lodge. Now, of course it is always open in lodges at labour. The present day method of obligating candidates on the Bible is well known. The posture is peculiar to Freemasonry, viz, kneeling with his right hand on the VSL and the left in a position varying with the degree. In the English Constitution, the Bible is placed on the Worshipful Master's pedestal though in some lodges in England it may be placed on a special altar in front of the pedestal. In the other two British Constitutions, it is placed on a separate altar in the centre of the lodge room. In the Irish Constitution, additional VSL's are placed one on each of the pedestals of the principal officers. The Bible is opened at the Old Testament. New Brunswick is an exception to this as the Scripture opened on, and used for the Second Degree comes from Corinthians in the New Testament. There is no official Grand Lodge ruling as how it should be placed or to the page at which it should be opened. page 3 The Holy Book of the Muslims is the Holy Koran, but as regards touching and sealing it, the overall picture is rather difficult as customs vary in different countries. A Muslim may only touch the Holy Koran with his bare hands after he has undergone a full ceremonial washing. Advice was sought from the Iman of Kedah in 1952. He recommended that the candidate should be obligated with the Koran held above his head by another Muslim brother. If he is afterwards required to seal it with his lips the Book should be wrapped up so that the lips do not actually touch it. The words "hereby and hereon" should be changed to "hereby and hereunder." This is the usual method of obligating Muslims in Singapore. The Koran is always kept wrapped up. Another method is to place the wrapped Koran on the pedestal and the candidate places his hand on it (as with the Bible); the only difference is that the bare hand does not touch the Koran directly. This method is not so commonly used. You will note that the Koran, being wrapped up, is not open in lodge. In other places, another method may be used. Some members consider that the method of dealing with this problem should be in exactly the same manner as for the Holy Bible with the exception that the Holy Koran should not be touched with the hands unless covered with gloves. The only point is that the candidate does not wear gloves but he can touch the Koran provided he has purified himself prior to entering the lodge after the manner of his religion. He is always so informed by his sponsors. The Sikh religion was founded by Nanek Guru who was born in 1469 AD. His tenth and last successor Govind, assassinated in 1708, declared the line of gurus extinct and the spiritual leadership vested in the Granth Sahib or Holy Book as God's representative on earth. A Sikh religious leader stated (in 1952) that there is no objection to touching the Book but sealing it in the accepted Masonic Manner with the lips is NOT permitted. He suggested that a candidate could bow in obedience toward the Book. The Gita goes back to 200 BC and establishes a permanent compromise between the belief in a Personal God and the conception of an Impersonal and All Pervading Absolute. There are other Hindu Writings originating 1500 - 1200 BC but they do not page 4 acclaim the doctrines of a single Deity. The Gita may be opened and touched with the hands, but not with the lips. Candidates should therefore be instructed to salute it in the manner customary to their faith, which is by placing the hands on the Gita, bringing them to the forehead and then to the chest with the palms together.
Recommended publications
  • June 2020 No
    Grand Lodge Office: 478-742-1475 Please send changes of address to the Grand Secretary MASONIC MESSENGER at 811 Mulberry Street, Macon, GA 31201 Vol. 116 June 2020 No. 1 on your lodge secretary’s monthly report. The editor does NOT keep the list of addresses. Table of Contents Grand Lodge Officers Grand Lodge Notices and Events From the Desk of the Grand Secretary....................................3 Grand Master Johnie M. Garmon (114) Freemasonry Around Georgia.................................................4 Deputy Grand Master Jan M. Giddens (33) Grand York Rite News...........................................................5 Grand Orient of Georgia News..............................................6 Senior Grand Warden Donald C. Combs (46) Articles Junior Grand Warden Michael A. Kessler (216) “History of Dallas Lodge No. 182”......................................7-9 “Operative, Speculative, and Oline”..................................10-11 Grand Treasurer Larry W. Nichols (59) “Crypta Podcast Interview”..............................................12-14 “The 50 Year Mason: A Cut Above”.................................15-17 Grand Secretary Van S. McGee (26, 70) “The Freemasons & the Catholic P...”...............................18-20 “Pakistan’s Freemasons”........................................................21 Review of Georgia Grand Masters and their Tokens.............22 Grand Chaplain James R. Harris (205, 758) “Relevancy to the Community”............................................23 From the Archives “Consolidation (1931)..............................24
    [Show full text]
  • Masters of Truth Fathers of Lies
    MASTERS OF TRUTH FATHERS OF LIES 1 This book is dedicated to all those brave folk who made the ultimate sacrifice to maintain justice, truth and freedom in a world riddled with corruption, and to those equally brave people who continue the fight no matter what the cost - they are indeed few in number. Unless justice, truth and freedom are maintained, the world will not survive the onslaught of the corruption and greed of mankind. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8 v 44. “The first wrote, ‘Wine is the strongest.’ The second wrote, ‘The king is strongest’ The third wrote ‘Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory’.” 1 Esdras 3 v 10.. For every book sold, £1 will be contributed to the funds of “FAME’97” 2 NOW AVAILABLE ON MULTI-MEDIA INTERACTIVE CD “THE TRUTH” A REVELATION IN VIDEO, SOUND, GRAPHICS AND TEXT - HOW AND WHY THE HISTORY OF THE 20TH CENTURY WAS PLANNED AND BY WHO. WHY TWO WORLD WARS? WHY THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION? WHY THE COLD WAR - WAS IT REALLY COLD? WHY INJUSTICE, DEBT AND INFLATION? WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN THE DEATHS OF JFK AND DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES? WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN ANCIENT BABYLON AND WASHINGTON D.C.? WAS PEARL HARBOUR ALLOWED TO BE ATTACKED? WHY STALIN WAS NEVER PORTRAYED TO BE A WORSE TYRANT THAN ADOLPH HITLER? WHY THE BRITISH TAXPAYER WAS DUPED INTO SUBSIDISING EVERY TON OF WHEAT SOLD TO THE USSR BY £100? THESE AND MANY OTHER FACTS REVEALED FOR YOU TO JUDGE THE TRUE TYRANTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
    [Show full text]
  • Reasoning-Masons.Lwp
    Book Review: Ron Rhodes: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons A Review by David S. Julian © 2004 David S. Julian DAY JEWEL PUBLICATIONS 16052 - 46th Ave S Seattle, WA 98188 (206) 246-6460 www.dayjewel.com 1 Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons The author of the book On the book’s back cover, Ron Rhodes, Th.D., correctly states that “Masons establish and maintain Children’s Hospitals, provide free medical treatment to needy children, work actively in their communities, and promote high moral standards.” The author is identified as the President of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries, whose own website describes itself as a “nonprofit corporation.” But nothing on the RSM website even remotely resembles the generosity of Freemasonry quoted above. The website actually appears to be nothing more than an online bookstore for Rhodes’ books and newsletter, run out of a P.O. Box in Frisco, TX, a north Dallas suburb. According to the book, however, RSM is run out of a P.O. Box in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, a south Los Angeles suburb near Mission Viejo. The book’s cover also identifies Rhodes as a “noted researcher and Bible scholar” but most of his premises turn out to be just another recycling of the same anti-everybody-but-us phoney-baloney from Harvest House, the publishing arm of the John Ankerberg Show. To get the potential book-buyer’s attention, the back cover displays the usual “secret name for God”, “Baal and Osiris”, “occultic”, and “hidden rituals” buzzwords. The back cover also claims there is an “easy to follow guide ..
    [Show full text]
  • Faith Hope and Charity
    "FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY" In the Entered Apprentice lecture we learn that the covering of a lodge is a clouded canopy, or starry-decked heavens, where every good Mason hopes at last to arrive. We learn about that spiritual ladder Jacob saw in his vision, from Genesis Chapter 28: "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Masonic tradition informs us the three principal rungs are labelled Faith, Hope and Charity. But interestingly, those words do not appear in Genesis, but rather 1 Corinthians Chapter 13: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." The men who crafted our ritual saw fit to unite these ideas, and they work together well, if separated a bit biblically. Let us expand on these virtues, how they relate to Freemasonry, and how to pursue them in our daily lives. FAITH Faith and religion are often confused; religion has been defined as: 1 "The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods." While faith is defined in Hebrews 11: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." You might say, faith is trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove. You must have faith in God to be a Mason. But how you exercise that faith, the doctrine you follow, the means of expressing it, may rightly be called your religion, and that decision is left to the individual Mason.
    [Show full text]
  • Hiram's Lighthouse-June 1, 2015 Page 1 of 32
    Hiram’s Lighthouse PROVIDING MASONIC LIGHT FROM TORONTO EAST DISTRICT SINCE 2003 Grand Lodge Merit Award Winner for District Newsletter - 2008 D.D.G.M.: R.W. Bro. Peter J. Sialtsis Email: - [email protected] District Secretary: W. Bro. Charles E. Frankland Email: - [email protected] Toronto East District Website: - www.torontoeastdistrict.com This Week in Toronto East (TWiTE): - 289.482.1294 Grand Lodge Website: - www.grandlodge.on.ca June 1 2015 Contents Page We can no longer have our survival depend upon the Events Calendar 3 claims of how great we were and point with pride to Around and About 5 the greatness of our past brothers. Freemasonry (News & Notices) needs an age of Renaissance in America today to lift Grand Lodge Communication 27 the veil of ignorance of our membership. ... by the Lighthouse Beam 30 - Bro. Thomas W. Jackson, speech to GL of Canada in the Province of Ontario-2011 Administration 32 (It‟s all about US!) From the desk of the D.D.G.M. Greetings Brethren of Toronto East District, As we head into the month of June we can finally embrace the slowly warming weather, the blooming of the flowers and our gardens; and we look forward to the end of what I feel has been a wonderful and productive year of brotherhood in the Toronto East District. As our Masonic year draws to a close, please remember that our labours are nowhere near an end. First and foremost, I want to encourage all of our brethren to attend the upcoming 4th annual Black & White District Gala & Awards Night to be held on June 13, 2015 at the Ajax Convention Centre.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to a Mason's Actions Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania
    A Guide to a Mason’s Actions Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania A Guide to a Mason’s Actions Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania by William A. Carpenter Right Worshipful Grand Master Copyright 1985, 2019 by the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-62079 Printed in the United States of America Reprint November 1995 Edited and updated 2019 DEDICATED TO Dorothy (Wally) Roberts Carpenter My First Wife and A Masonic Widow Par Excellence Contents Title page Copyright page Contents Dedication Foreword 1 Preface 2-5 Chapter I Masonic Manners 6-22 Ahiman Rezon 8-10 … to govern ourselves accordingly 11-18 What Do Masonic Manners Mean to Masons? 20-23 Chapter II Glossary 24-61 Chapter III Masonic Symbols 62-81 Appendix What is the Grand Lodge? 82-89 Bibliography 90 Illustrations Frontispiece of the 1783 edition of the Ahiman Rezon 6 Point Within a Circle 19 A.S.K. 24 Trestle Board 62 Approved and authorized by the Right Worshipful Grand Master Original Foreword I am flattered to have been asked to write the foreword to this volume authored To My by the Right Worshipful Grand Master, Brother William A. Carpenter, because Brethren in I know it represents his legacy to the Craft in Pennsylvania.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume XLIX (49) Part 3
    IMPORTANT NOTE While the cover of this volume shows it to be Volume XXXXXI (Ostensibly 51) Part 3 - 2007 It SHOULD HAVE BEEN LABELLED AS Volume XLIX (49) Part 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If citing this volume, please be sure to use the Volume 49, Part 3 ONLY THE COVER WAS INCORRECT ALL INTERNAL INFORMATION IS OK! Ed King, Grand Librarian – 3/2015 THE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL COMMUNICATION Grand Lodge XXXXXI 2007 Part III of Maine HELD AT PORTLAND, MAY 1 & 2, 2007 One copy of this Book of Proceedings and one cd-rom are mailed to the Secretary of every Lodge in the Jurisdiction. They are the property of the Lodge for the use of the Brethren. One copy should be handed to the Worshipful Master of the Lodge as soon as received and the Worshipful Master should arrange for all portions of the address of the Grand Master relating to the procedure, or conduct of the brethren, to be read in open Lodge at an early date. He should delegate a member of the Lodge to study the report of the various committees and other reports and have him bring in a detailed study for discussion in Open Lodge. One copy should be on the Secretary's desk at every meeting. Additional copies will be sent upon request GERALD S. LEIGHTON GRAND MASTER 2007-2008 ELECTED GRAND OFFICERS 2007-2008 APPOINTED GRAND OFFICERS 2007-2008 580 Proceedings of the [May GRAND LODGE OF MAINE, A.F. & A.M. SPECIAL COMMUNICATION A Special Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maine, A.F & A.M., was held on Friday, June 30, 2006, for the purpose of conducting a Cornerstone Ceremony at the new Calais Hospital.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Answers to Commonly Asked Questions on Freemasonry
    Answers to commonly asked questions on Freemasonry Hiram Abif--is the story true? When did he live? If by true is meant "factual", the answer is no. If by "true" is meant "containing a great truth" then the answer is yes; it is true as is the story of Santa Claus which tells a truth to children in words they can understand. The Legend of Hiram as told in the Master Mason degree is one of the oldest legends in the world but Freemasonry's legend is peculiarly her own. The three who encountered Hiram at the gates of the Temple are themselves symbols of error, evil, and sin; and the story as a whole is of the ultimate weakness of such forces against the power of the Great Architect. The word Abif is translated both "his father" and "my father" with "father" used in these senses as a patriarch, a teacher, a source of wisdom, and not as the actual father of a family. "Hiram, my father" is thus a title of honor and respect. (See Quest Book No. 5) [Some say that "avihu," meaning "my father is he," and rendered in Masonic usage as Abif or Abiff, was the Hebrew equivalent of "jr.," meaning that "Hiram Abif" was the son of a man also named Hiram.] When did Santa Claus start to manufacture Christmas toys? Myth and legend are alike silent on early Masonic dates. As the Temple was begun by Solomon in the fourth year of his reign, legend, if there was such, would have to place the death later.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trestleboard
    The Trestleboard A publication of Sun City Lodge # 72 F&AM Remember...You Can “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can.” - anonymous June 2018 june 2018 Calendar of Events Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Nile Club: 10:30A DeMolay Dance 4P-7A LOP: 1230P Job’s 8A-3P Boy Scouts: 6-8P 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lodge Trustee10A St. Andrew SC-OES: 730P SCL#72: CMDY: 9A Officers 7P SCL#72: 7P Church MSCRICF 1- 10A-12P Hi-12 8am LOP 12:30P 6PM DeMolay 4-7PM Boy Scouts: 6- Job’s 1-8P 8P 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Church Trust-Trustee 4P Past Mast: 830A Peoria OES SCL#72: 7P Oasis #15 6:30p Private Rental 7:30P 10A-12P Amaranth: 6P Job’s Daughter’s Boy Scouts: 7PM 6-8P Peoria #59 1-3 Amaranth 4-6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Church Peoria OES Boy Scouts: Skull & Bones Peoria OES 7:30p 6-8P 7P 10A-12P All Day DeMolay 4-7PM #72 Awards 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Job’s 7P Peoria OES Church Stewart Council SC#72 3rd 5P 6:30p Lg Dining Rm 10A-12P Boy Scouts: 6-8P 11-4 SUN CITY # 72 LODGE Your Lodge at a Glance Worshipful Master Craig Montgomery 623-521-5580 [email protected] Senior Warden Mark Nelson 480-253-0969 [email protected] Junior Warden Kevin Baver PM 602-793-4584 [email protected] Secretary Richard Flinton PM 623.972.2217 [email protected] Treasurer Michael Kennedy 623.972.2217 [email protected] Chaplain Arizona Milke Senior Deacon Michael Rial Junior Deacon Corey Chavez Senior Steward Ed Tannheimer Junior Steward Brian Arrowood Marshal Matthew Link Tyler Charles Hardy PM Lodge Trustees - Chairman, Pat Hayes PM Members Steve Wieters PM, Earl Paasch PM, Jan Lilly PM, James Almrud Building Manager Jack Daniel PM 623.972.2217 [email protected] Audit Committee Doug Robertson, George Coxey Banquet / Event Committee, Frank Visceglie Candidate Mentoring Pat Hayes PM, Steve Wieters PM Trust Fund Trustees Chairman Randy Sturdevant Members David Miller, PM, Doug Robertson, Bryan Cooper-Keeble PM.
    [Show full text]
  • District Education Officer's Manual for Training of Subordinate Lodge Officers
    DISTRICT EDUCATION OFFICER’S MANUAL FOR TRAINING OF SUBORDINATE LODGE OFFICERS Authorized by Most Worshipful James Dean Cole Grand Master of Masons in Virginia Published by The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Committee on Masonic Education and Publications 4115 Nine Mile Road, Richmond, Virginia 23223-4926 1 March 2001 1 2 Chapter 1 Introduction This manual has been developed for District Education Officers to use in the training of subordinate Lodge officers. The success of Freemasonry in the Commonwealth of Virginia is rooted in the success of the three hundred and thirty Lodges located in every part of the state. While this manual is a living draft, intended to be a compilation of educational ideas from many sources, its overall purpose is to serve as an arsenal of educational materials which can be used, in whole or in part, by the DEO as he serves Freemasonry by educating our local Lodge officers and members. Freemasonry over the centuries has been an institution whose members continually sought further education. This manual represents but one source, one step, on the long road of Masonic education. May every Virginia Mason begin to grow in knowledge by stepping forward on the path of education. JAMES D. COLE Grand Master March 1, 2001 3 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. 4 MESSAGE FROM THE GRAND PROVOST 1. Dedication The Officers of the Grand Lodge of Virginia recognize that without the dedicated service to and support of the elected and appointed Officers of the Craft Lodges, the Craft Lodges and the Grand Lodge of Virginia could not continue to exist.
    [Show full text]
  • The Volume of Sacred Law (VSL)
    VSL Three Small Letters, One Big Concept The VSL, or Volume of Sacred Law, one of our Three Great Lights, has not always been a part of Freemasonry. The term seems to have been adopted around 1723. There was no edict or instruction from the first Grand Lodge of England, but like much of what we now consider established Freemasonry, it probably came from James Andersons’ “The Constitutions of the Free-Masons” written in that year. Before then, in England and all other Christian countries, it was the Holy Bible. But even that book only takes us back less than two hundred years as the Bible, especially an English language one was not even published until 1526, by William Tyndale, and then it was only the New Testament. The use of this book in a Masonic Lodge would have been hazardous as, and I quote, “One risked death by burning if caught in mere possession of Tyndale's forbidden books.” The earliest manuscripts that relate to Masonry and contain references to ritual simply refer to it as “the book” or “a book”, and that was probably their book of Constitutions and Charges. Why the change to Volume of Sacred Law rather than just saying The Holy Bible, after all, that’s what is on all of our altars today isn’t it? One of the great changes that came into Speculative Masonry with the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge and Anderson’s Constitutions was the removal of religion from the Craft. In part it reads “… though in ancient times Masons were charg'd in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more expedient to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves …” Masons were no longer required to be of the one religion of their country, but rather to share a belief in a Grand Architect of the Universe or a Supreme Entity, by whatever name you wished to use.
    [Show full text]
  • Enigma of Freemasonry by Ralph Omholt
    Enigma of Freemasonry by Ralph Omholt http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/enigma_of_freemasonry/text.htm Dedicated to W. Bro. Richard Roberts 1 of 132 11/30/13 10:43 AM Enigma of Freemasonry by Ralph Omholt http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/enigma_of_freemasonry/text.htm Warrior, Brother, Friend and Mentor Freemasonry is a topic which is encompassed by literally tens of thousands of books and hundreds of years of tradition. Thus, it is naïve to expect the entirety of the “Craft” to be expressed between two covers. Freemasonry evolved from a time when such a society would attract inquisitors, dungeon masters and executioners. Whether one cares to cite simple obscurity or true secrecy, Freemasonry emerged from a bizarre set of shadows; it is NOT a secret society. What you read here is an effort to concisely present not only the essence of Freemasonry, but also an understanding as to the function of Freemasonry in its role of a social enigma, as well as a functioning social and charitable unit in the world’s cultures. Freemasonry maintains a low profile, for a variety of reasons, primarily to evade the power lust of obsessive-compulsive detractors. In the United States, at the time of this writing, the various units of Freemasonry contribute approximately two million dollars per day to charities, which are characterized by their direct application to the needy, versus an income source for the charity managers. Beyond being a social outlet, Freemasonry maintains a standard of morality in time. So often the world witnesses a set of rationalizations which attempt to subvert morality for various reasons from raw emotionalism to the seizure of money and power.
    [Show full text]